Smart assistants like Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, and Apple Siri have been able to do home automation tasks for years. In a new update, however, it looks like at least Google's virtual helper has recently learned a new trick.
Spotted by Android Police and Reddit, Google appears to have added additional functionality to the assistant to control internet-connected lights. Instead of just being able to turn the light on or off immediately, you can now say "Hey Google, turn the light on in 5 minutes" or "Hey Google, turn the light on at 7am".
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A Google Developer page suggests that the functionality can do more than just handle lights. An option is listed on the website that asks the wizard to "turn my coffee maker on at 8:00 AM tomorrow" and "keep my sprinkler on at 5:00 PM one week later."
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Android Police notes that if you ask for something to be done tomorrow, you still need to provide an exact time. There is also no clear way of canceling pending requests. For the latter at least, all you can do is tell the assistant to turn the lights on or off like you normally would.
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